Drone Ben
by UngratefulWolf
Summary: Oneshot. A drone goes astray the night the Omnitrix lands on Earth towards its intended target. The young Ben Tennyson takes a hold of it and soon turns summer vacation into a nightmare for his family and himself.


"Aw, man. This is gonna be the worst vacation ever. I might as well have gone to summer school." complained Ben.

Summer was just starting, and it was already ruined. It turns out Aunt Natalie asked Grandpa Max to let that dweeb come with them for the summer. It was unfair, he waited the whole school year for this.

And now comes Gwen, his nerdish cousin with her stupid summer schedules and nerd junk that feels more like homework than fun. Still better than Cash and JT, but at least he could've kept practicing for Little League if he stayed in Bellwood.

He wondered when this summer would start being 'fun'. With Grandpa Max picking their dinner from who-knows-where, their road-trip felt like it was gonna be tedious.

Suddenly, there was a light in the sky.

"Whoa! A shooting star!" he exclaimed, seeing a light in going down the sky towards the horizon. "I wish this summer could be less boring. Or for the new Sumo Slammers."

If Gwen was there, she'd make fun of him for still believing in shooting stars. If dweebs like her could exist, he didn't see why shooting stars couldn't grant wishes, even if he was old enough to know it didn't really work.

Then, he saw something else in the sky, another light was coming. "Another shooting star? Man, did Grandpa plan this out? I didn't know there was gonna be a meteor shower tonight!" He noticed way too late the second shooting star wasn't heading in the same direction as the other one.

In fact, it was heading towards the ground, in his direction.

Panicking, Ben ran off to hide behind the trees, bracing himself for the crash. There was a loud sound as the thing he saw in the sky landed on the dirt, making a big crater where Ben as standing a few seconds ago.

When he was sure the impact was over, Ben curiously looked from behind a tree at the meteor, and realized he wasn't looking at a shooting star or any space rock.

In the crater there was a small red disk, almost as big as a football, with tons of weird red circuits on it. Suddenly, four metallic legs came out from it as a piece from the top and the bottom popped out from its body.

It looked like a real small robotic crab. But its shape, and the fact it landed from the sky, clued Ben on what it was…

"A UFO!" he exclaimed. "Man, is there little grey people in there? They must be _really_ small if that's the case. I can't believe what I'm seeing, there's aliens in that thing? Wait a second, I discovered an alien thing! Oh man, just wait until Gwen sees this! I'll take that thing back to the Rustbucket, we'll go back home and I'll become famous!"

Suddenly, the UFO started hovering and Ben understood it was gonna get away, so he went ahead and grabbed it. No way he was gonna let this chance pass.

The UFO raised its claw, a small little straw on it glowing red, and Ben dodged a laser, releasing the drone. Looks like the little guys in there knew how to defend themselves, he wasn't gonna be famous soon if they escaped.

Spotting a big rock near him, he tried to lift it. It was heavy, but he had to stop the aliens somehow. The UFO was getting away, so with all his strength, he threw the rock at it.

"Hey metal-head, eat this!"

A loud metallic sound resonated in the forest as the rock crushed the drone he found. He hoped it could still work and that he didn't turn the little grey men in there into grey alien soup.

The UFO wasn't moving while damaged, so Ben lifted the rock and picked it up. "Man, this thing looks trashed. What if everyone just thinks it's just a toy? Nah, it shoots lasers, they're definitely gonna believe me."

He eyed the small drone, wondering where it came from. If this was like in the movies, maybe he just stopped an alien invasion. Or maybe the FBI, the CIA and all of those secret agent things were gonna take credit for it. He had to find a journalist first.

Then, he felt a sting as he saw the drone inserted a sharp metallic tube into his neck, and then everything burned.

Ben screamed and his vision went red. His skin turned into a dark pinkish red with circuited spots here and there, and his eyes became robotic, much like the drone he found. His fingers turned into metallic claws and similar spikes sprouted on his arms, shredding his shoes and parts of his shirts and pants. And finally, two blasters appeared on his shoulders.

His head was turning from what just happened. He dropped the drone on the ground, breaking it beyond repair, then screamed as he saw what he became. "Get off me! Get off, get off!"

The blasters on his shoulders popped out, and red lasers came out of it, burning down the trees in front of him. He paused to stare at the damage.

"Wow… I'm the one who did this? Am I an alien now?" he looked at his metal claws and saw what he mutated into. "...check it out! I have claws and I'm not afraid to use them! Oh, yeah! Uh-huh!" he giggled, before looking at the trees.

He could get used to this, maybe he could become a cyborg superhero like that guy in the comics with his teenage friends.

"Here goes!" he said as he blasted another tree "That's what I'm talkin' about." he added as he made an even bigger blast. "Likin' it."

Then as usual, things went out of hand quick. A fire started forming from the all the destruction he caused. "Wait, STOP! Uh-oh." He tried to stomp on the fire, but all he did was break the ground underneath him, making a lot of cracks around him. His skin wasn't burning, but the problem was still there. "Oh, man. I'm gonna get so busted for this!"

* * *

"Failure?! Unbelievable! The puny Earth being that is keeping the Omnitrix from me will soon hang on my trophy wall!" hissed Vilgax, whilst inside a tank, regenerating.

"The drones were destroyed. But it seems they have somehow… _merged_." said the robotic lieutenant, tapping on a command tablet. "I'm receiving one combined signal, and that signal is on the move."

Vilgax hummed before taking his decision. "Perhaps one head is better than two."

* * *

"G… Grandpa... what was that?" asked Gwen.

"Gwen, I know this is scary, but don't be afraid, it's still me in there." said the Pyronite.

What were the odds of the Omnitrix, the strongest weapon in the universe, to land on him the day he took his grandchildren for camping? He wouldn't be surprised if Phil or Xylene were the ones to send it to him, they always had a way of making things a bit complicated while he was still in service as a Magister.

He however wouldn't mind seeing Xylene again…

But maybe not in this form, and maybe he should find a way to go back to normal to stop frightening Gwen.

He pressed the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, reverting back to his human form.

"Grandpa, when these flying saucers came, you turned into that weird flame monster thing and blasted them off. How did you do that?! And what is that thing on your wrist?" she pointed at the Omnitrix.

"It's… a long story. You have to promise me not to tell anything to Ben or your parents, unless they find out about it somehow."

She nodded. "Good call on not telling Ben, he can't keep a secret for the sake of it. Speaking of which, where is he? And, uh, are you the one who made that fire as Magma Man earlier?"

Max looked at the smoke coming out of the forest. "No, probably some darn fool camper out there messing around with something he shouldn't. BEN!" Max called, bringing out two fire extinguishers and handing one to Gwen. "Better take this."

"Try not to be like Ben and use it on yourself by accident." joked Gwen.

Ben wasn't having that much fun however, he was kneeling down near the crash site, having the mother of all headaches. His new body protected him from the fire, but he felt something much worse coming.

"_A child? Hmm, this may still work out._"

He heard a voice, a threatening adult voice that sounded like it was almost agonizing, and suddenly everything around him turned yellow.

"_Listen to me, whoever you are_." said the voice.

"Who are you?!" shouted Ben. "Where are you and, what is this?!"

"_You don't need to ask questions, child. You are here to serve me._"

"S-Stop, this isn't funny! Answer!"

"_You now possess power you could have never imagined, but unless you find a way to use it, it will be worthless!"_

Then the source of the voice appeared. In front of Ben, a giant figure stood. A squid man, with red eyes and a really scary armor, was glaring at him.

"_Fulfill my command, and I will teach you, child. Fail me, and I will turn you to dust!_" threatened the man.

"No… no! Let me out of here! Gwen, help me! Grandpa Max!"

Vilgax's eyes widened, worrying Ben. When he said Max's name, something seemed to have clicked in the alien's mind, as if he knew his Grandpa.

"_Hmm, Max Tennyson?_" Ben's reaction seemed to confirm his doubts. "_So that old scum decided to make a family, I should've known he'd meddle with my plans once more._"

"You… you know Grandpa?" asked Ben, heaving.

"_More than you do if he hasn't told you about me, Vilgax the Conqueror. But we have all the time to discuss that later, child. For now, you have an Omnitrix to retrieve._"

All that could be heard were Ben's moans of pain.

* * *

"Ben! Ben, where are you?" Gwen called. "Why doesn't Grandpa have a doofus-seeking superpower or a fire extinguisher one?"

Her grandfather came back as a blue speedster a few minutes ago before going back to normal. He told her those things she saw him turn into weren't monsters, but aliens. She almost wanted to ask him how he knew about those or how he knew how to use that weird space watch that landed near the campsite earlier.

But for now, she had to look for her cousin who probably got lost again. Ben would freak out if he saw their Grandpa turn into an alien, which was another reason not to tell him the truth.

Max managed to make the fire die out a bit using the blue speedster with the fire extinguisher, but he noted it would've been maybe easier if he turned into that burning guy he called a Pyronite. She had to wonder where the fire came from in the first place.

"Grandpa! Gwen!"

Both Tennysons turned to where Ben's voice came from. "There you are! Where were you at during the fire?!" scolded Gwen. "We were-"

"Watch out!"

Suddenly, a red blast came and Gwen dodged. Other blasts came and Max grabbed her away, trying to activate the now red watch. They were both silent as Ben came out of the shadows.

He didn't look the same anymore, as if he was now like those robots that attacked them. Ben had mutated into a war machine.

"I feel weird, somebody help me!" he pleaded.

He suddenly raised his arm, and the blasters shot once more.

"Ben, you have to fight it!" said Max. "Don't let Vilgax take over your head!"

"What do you mean, Grandpa?! What is going on?!" Ben asked. "That thing… He wants that Omnitrix! I can't stop it, he's-"

"_Now now, we can't have any of that. Just eliminate him and I'll spare the girl, don't shed more blood than necessary._"

"NO!" Ben cried. "Go away! He's… controlling me, I'm one of his machines now!"

"Listen, you doofus! You spent all of our childhood driving me insane, so it's not an alien that'll-"

"WATCH OUT!"

Ben launched himself forward, almost cutting her down with his claws. She backed away quickly while Max still struggled to reactivate the Omnitrix.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Ben, we won't-"

"NOW!"

Max knew he had no other choice when Ben was about to strike again. He dragged Gwen away as they ran into the forest, the now robotic boy pursuing them.

"Grandpa! What are we doing?!"

"Vilgax's got a hold of Ben's body, we can't free him until we find assistance. I'm sorry but we can't help your cousin right away."

"Then what are we going to do?! Let Ben run after us until he cuts your arm getting that watch?!"

"Your cousin's not invincible, he'll probably get tired at some point." Gwen was almost shocked that he was talking about Ben like an animal. "What Vilgax did is affecting his entire organism, and I know where to look at for help."

Gwen looked behind her as they ran. She could still hear Ben going after them, and for once, she felt bad they were about to leave him behind.

* * *

Several days he's been after them.

Several days that felt like months, years.

Several days he was a monster.

Several days he worked for Vilgax.

The squid man never left him. He kept talking in Ben's head, ordering him around, telling him his purpose was now to obey him and only him, and that was what he was programmed for.

Ben wasn't even sure he could ever be himself again, the power was overwhelming him. It was intoxicating, making him lose sight of anything else. Vilgax trapped him inside his own head, all for a weapon.

He almost wanted to believe what Vilgax said was a lie. Was his Grandpa… really a Plumber? What were those guys, space cops? Well he wished they arrested this guy.

Maybe they should arrest him as well, he knew he was dangerous.

They were probably planning to shut him down, reduce him to bits. Killing was all what he was good for for now, nothing else mattered.

He was worthless without powers, he knew it. He always knew he couldn't do a thing without the right strength, that's why he could never be a hero.

He was just a tool, that was it.

His sensors picked up something unusual. Another drone was coming, and the Omnitrix's signal on it.

So that was it, huh? Another drone did the job for Vilgax. He was surely gonna shut Ben down now, since he didn't have any other purpose.

Vilgax would see the more successful drone through his eyes, and shut him down to let it give him the Omnitrix instead.

He sighed as he looked in the direction of the other drone. His robotic red eyes blinked as he saw it didn't look normal.

It was now black, white and green, and it had a singular round eye on it. It was even bigger than the ones Vilgax usually sent him to work with, and there was the Omnitrix symbol on it. Was the drone now merged with the Omnitrix?

Then he gasped as a blob came out of it, leaving a normal drone behind it before jumping at him and… merging with him.

"What… what's going on…"

"Don't worry, Ben." said a familiar voice. "I'm here now."

"_NO!_" Vilgax's voice resonated inside Ben's mind.

"You won't make my grandson into a monster anymore, Vilgax!" said the alien that now covered Ben's cyborg body.

"Grandpa…"

Tears came out when Ben recognized whose voice it was.

* * *

_The battlefield was covered in blood, he made so many victims. It would be worth it in the end, it wasn't like those normal, weak humans mattered to him anymore._

_He took a slow walk towards the old man's corpse, having finally accomplished his mission. Without a care, his claws cut into the Plumber's arm, ripping away the Omnitrix from him._

_His master would be satisfied with his work, he was the most performant drone Vilgax ever had._

_He smiled as he handed the device to his creator, bowing in respect._

"_Well done, child. You have been my best soldier and most loyal servant until now. Your task has been accomplished, you filled your purpose."_

"_It has been an honor. Master."_

Ben abruptly woke up, and like every night before, he woke up crying. Gwen hurried and gave him the nearest cup of water, patting his back.

Max was still driving, looking for a place to sleep. He heard one of his old Plumber buddies, Magister Daniels, had a grandson with technopathy. There was a hope he could maybe soothe down Ben's nightmares, in case there were remnants of what Vilgax did to him.

Max would never forgive the alien for that. He turned Ben into a war machine to get the Omnitrix from him. The Chimera Sui Generis was now cooling his claws in the Null Void, but Max wouldn't refrain from frying him alive next time they met.

Ben wouldn't be the same after this summer. He now couldn't sleep for several weeks. He didn't want to go out, to play, to talk. He barely ate anything he made (Gwen too, which worried him).

It was all his fault he let his grandson into the forest like that.

If he had listened to their whims and took them elsewhere for dinner or camping, maybe none of this would've happened.

It was too late anyway. The deed was done, and Ben would never be able to forget what happened. All he could hope for was recovery.

* * *

"Hey, Rook!" called out the Loboan.

Rook Blonko, who was testing out his new suit, one gifted by Galvans, looked at his best friend and classmate, Scout.

"Hm?"

"Heard about the new guy who joined the Academy two weeks ago? He was assigned into our class."

"Magister Tennyson's grandson? I heard about him." said Rook. "What about him?"

"There's been some rumors going on about that guy. You weren't there yesterday so you didn't hear all of the details of the incident."

"What did I miss?" asked Rook.

The day before, Magister Tennyson came to show the young students at the Plumber Academy a demonstration of what a full-fledged Plumber must be capable of showing during a mission, using the Omnitrix.

Some students already guessed it was also to check on his grandson, Ben Tennyson, who was victim of an alien attack during his childhood and joined to be able to defend himself. The teenage boy seemed pretty silent compared to other youngsters, something unusual since humans, especially at that age, were said to be reckless and energetic.

Rook had only seen him a few times in the hallways, the human teen always seemed… out there, withdrawn, introverted. He was told it wasn't always the case but didn't know if it was related to his past accident.

Recently, Vilgax, a known criminal warlord, had attacked the Academy to take the Omnitrix away from Maxwell Tennyson. It was surprising the Chimera Sui Generis considered attacking a base full of future Plumbers to be a good idea, a proof his search for the Omnitrix was unreasonable.

"Well, apparently, that human was seen by Vilgax during the attack, and Vilgax said something about Benjamin Tennyson."

"Magister Tennyson's relatives have been targeted by Vilgax before, what did he say?"

"I don't know the exact details, but Vilgax said that he was pleased to see 'his old soldier' working here."

The Revonnahgander gave a look of confusion to his friend. "His old soldier?"

"No one knows why he said that. Some people around here theorized Ben Tennyson worked for Vilgax before and that he was sent there to assure he was fully rehabilitated.

"That does not make any sense, he would have been imprisoned before and we would have studied about it. We had a whole chapter about Plumber families and their decay. If Magister Tennyson's grandson was formerly part of Vilgax's army, we would already know."

"Just some dumb rumors." shrugged Scout.

"Why does no one ask Ben about it?"

"Good luck getting him to speak, he doesn't talk a lot." said Scout, pointing to Ben who was reading an Earth book on his bed.

Rook looked at the young human. There was something about him that felt… hurt, like an injured animal. Whatever happened before, it must've been really bad, and someone had to stop these rumors before they got out of hand.

With a sigh, he walked up to the younger teen.

"Hello, um. You are Magister Tennyson's grandson, right? Ben Tennyson. I am-"

"Rook." said Ben, earning a startled look from him. "I know about you, my Grandpa said you could be a good partner if I graduated from the Academy."

"R-Really?" asked Rook. "Um, I was not sure we were properly introduced yet so, um…"

How could he say this without looking awkward? On his planet, salutations were easier, but humans were a whole other thing, especially ones that don't live in farms. He heard Ben used to be one of those sports addicts, and people said teenage sports addicts were the rudest, though Ben did not fit the physique of a bully, he was rather skinny.

"Need anything?" asked Ben, unfazed.

"I was wondering… How is life on Earth?"

Ben looked at him with an uninterested look before answering. "It's kinda boring in there. With Plumbers always keeping us safe, nothing really happens since alien criminals don't come anymore."

"Oh." said Rook. "Well, what do humans do for fun?"

"We play. We talk. We eat. We work. We go on a walk, stuff like that. It's not very different from what aliens do."

Okay, this was a disaster, he felt like a nuisance speaking to him. What if Ben spoke to his grandfather about a student annoying him? His scholarship could go awry very soon…

"What's that thing you're wearing? Is that a new Plumber uniform?" asked Ben.

"Hm? Oh, this is my new Proto-Armor, it was made by Galvans." answered Rook.

"Galvans… The little grey creatures that look like frogs but talk like brainiacs?"

"Indeed."

"I remember my Grandpa turning into one to clean our RV's motor once. He got stuck inside and my cousin Gwen had to get him out of there quick before he timed out."

Ben smiled as he recalled the memory. Rook noticed the change and kept going.

"Are you close with Magister Tennyson?"

"Yeah, he's my Grandpa." Ben looked uninterested again, probably because he was already asked those questions before.

"Oh, well… What do you think of the Omnitrix?"

Ben took a short moment to answer. "It's pretty cool, I guess. He uses it like a tool and always says it's difficult to handle stuff like that, but he works it super great. I wish I got that instead of…"

He momentarily looked uncomfortable, before following.

"Instead of those blasters and weapons we see in class. An alien watch looks cooler than an alien gun."

"It is pretty impressive, but what would you do with it?"

"I'd… I think I'd try to be a superhero." He gave Rook a warning look. "Don't laugh. With powers like that, anyone would wanna be a hero. Save lives, stopping bad guys, helping the weak people out…"

Suddenly, there was a beeping. Ben pulled out his Plumber badge and projected a message in Earth language, which Rook still had to study about.

"Hulka wants me on the training ground, I got an extra hour to do." complained Ben. "But, uh, wanna keep going later, Rook?"

"Sure, um, Ben." said Rook.

Ben gathered his belongings and went for the locker room. Rook went back to Scout to tell him about their conversation.

"So?"

"So, he seems to be an ordinary person. He did not show any particular interest in anything illegal and, he actually sounded more motivated than usual. And he mentioned wanting to help others, I think… I think those rumors were wrong, he could not have worked with Vilgax before."

"I still wonder why Vilgax said that, Magister Tennyson still looked pretty mad when he heard it. Maybe he mistook him for another human?"

"Well, brown hair and green eyes are some of the most common traits we can find on Earth, and I doubt Vilgax cares enough about that species to tell the difference."

"Heh, you're probably right. I wouldn't make a difference between two humans of the same age if it was me."

"Do you not have a powerful sense of smell?" teased Rook, nudging his best friend.

Still, he was a bit concerned about the way Ben acted before opening up. It reminded him of his little siblings when they accidentally let Muroids inside one of their Amber Orgia silos once, but Ben was a whole other thing.

He looked guilty, but Rook didn't know why. What did he do before that made him so silent, so withdrawn? He definitely wasn't a criminal, Rook felt Ben was a good person. But if something made him this cold, this "mechanical" when talking or doing anything…

What was it?


End file.
